An al Qaeda-linked rebel group has wrested control of the historic Christian town of Maaloula from regime forces , opposition groups said Sunday .

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the hardline Islamist rebels of the al-Nusra Front seized control Saturday night .

Videos posted on YouTube in recent days showed fighting between rebels and government forces in the tiny sleepy town , an hour 's drive from the capital Damascus .

`` We cleansed Maaloula from all the Assad dogs and all his thugs , '' a rebel commander shouts at the camera in a video posted online over the weekend .

What the capture will mean for the Christian residents waits to be seen .

As the 18-month-long Syrian conflict festers , the government and the opposition welcome and need Christian support .

But some Christians fear radical Islamists have been swelling rebel ranks .

They also fear the same fate as a number of Christians during the war in Iraq , where militants targeted them and spurred many to leave the country .

Christians make up roughly 10 % of the population . Syria is ruled by a government dominated by Alawites , whose faith is an offshoot of Shiism . The regime is opposed by an opposition with a large Sunni presence .

Aid agencies say Syria 's 2 million Christians are often targeted for suspected sympathies to President Bashar al-Assad 's regime . Two top bishops have been kidnapped ; a well-known priest is missing .

Antoinette Nassrallah , the Christian owner of a cafe in Maaloula , told CNN last year she had seen government TV images depicting radical Muslim attacks on Christians . She said she has heard about such violence in Aleppo .

`` For now in our area here it 's fine , '' she said last year . `` But what I heard , in Aleppo , they are killing , destroying many of churches -- very , very old churches . ''

Many of Syria 's Christians have fled to Lebanon where they shelter in monasteries .

On Saturday , they joined in prayers for peace promoted by Pope Francis in Rome .

Last year , the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on leaders of al-Nusra while the State Department blacklisted it as a foreign terror organization linked to al Qaeda in Iraq .

Al-Nusra Front has emerged as one of the most effective groups in the Syrian resistance , drawing on foreign fighters with combat experience in Iraq and elsewhere .

But Washington accuses the group of using the Syrian conflict to advance its own ideology and ends .

Elsewhere in Syria , Russia sent a plane to pick up its citizens from the war-torn Middle East nation , state media reported Sunday .

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What the capture will mean for Christians waits to be seen

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Some Christians fear radical Islamists have been swelling rebel ranks

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Aid agencies : Christians often targeted for sympathies to al-Assad 's regime